Molting
by HadenXCharm
Summary: Ikkaku has worked with this traveling show for years, but no one ever seems to feed whatever animal's living inside a mysterious cage at the outskirts of their camp. When he catches sight of its face, he is instantly smitten, but once that face hits the daylight, the monster within is revealed. Its extraordinary beauty is matched only by its ugliness. (Harpy!Yumichika)
1. Chapter 1

' _Do not feed.'_ Ikkaku passed that sign every day who knows how many times. He knew better than to go over to that particular car and peek through the bars. Urahara had given him quite a scare before with the kind of beasts he kept in this dumb show, and Ikkaku didn't feel like poking his nose in where it wasn't needed.

But damn, he was really starting to get curious.

Ikkaku was quite the superstitious guy when it came to it, but it wasn't for no good reason. Urahara had kept quite a few amazing things in his time, and Ikkaku had seen some _shit_ , let me tell you. He'd been traveling with this crew for about two years from dopey town to dopier town, but not once had that certain car been set up in such a way that the light would shine in. He was beginning to think it was empty, but then why the sign?

He wanted to know so bad. They had a few big cats right now and a couple magical creatures too, which was their main attraction, but Ikkaku couldn't stop his eyes lingering every time he passed that empty cage. He'd asked around and gotten little to no real answer. He'd never seen anyone going over there to feed it, not even when everything else was getting fed after closing time. It made sense if nothing was in there, but still, that sign wasn't there for no reason, right?

Finally he couldn't stand it. There had been a lull in the work day, the people had dispersed around lunchtime, and he was wandering around aimlessly. He could assure you that he'd ended up in front of the cage entirely by accident and strolled past the rope barriers, right up to the bars.

The smell was horrible. Something was definitely in there, and no one was taking care of it.

He put his hand over his eyes to try to make his vision sharper, squinting and scrunching his face up against the smell. It had to be roasting in there with the sun beating on the wood and the muggy humid air. Poor thing.

It was really quiet, and if Ikkaku put his ear close, he could hear breathing. Panting, more like it. Even standing this close to the cage, he could feel the heat coming from within. Whatever lived in there needed a few windows or something, maybe a breeze, because the only wind today was coming from the opposite direction of its bars.

He tapped on the rusty bars to try to get the attention of whatever was sleeping in there. "Psst, hey. Anyone in here? Wake up," he called softly. Fully aware that it could be something really dangerous, he took a cautious step back, watching with trepidation as something started moving around in response to the noise.

He was surprised anything had happened. Whenever schmucks from the village came by to see their creatures, they had no luck with getting most of the miserable things to make an appearance or even open their eyes. Most of their animals were more active at night.

It seemed like whatever lived in here was coming out to see him. He swallowed, but his curiosity overruled his anxiety.

Suddenly, something caught the light. Well, not really, it was more like something lighter in the darkness that was easier to see. Skin. Pale skin.

Ikkaku squinted for a minute, seeing a face turn to his. It looked like… a _person._ His eyes snapped open and he may have panicked a little, too much and too quickly for any rational thought to take hold. "Hey, get out of there!" he called frantically, "There's a wild beast in there, come on, hurry and get out!" He rummaged for his keys, heart pounding for whoever this person was. He was so fired, that was _it_ , he was so fucking –

He saw the person reaching out, coming closer, hearing a low dragging metal sound. Their arm was reaching for the bars as they crawled towards him. He jammed the key into the lock, and all of a sudden he was knocked to the ground hard.

"Oof!" he coughed as Renji tackled him, rolling them away. Ikkaku looked up for a moment and gasped, taking a breath to shout, but Renji clapped a hand over his mouth.

The person's hand was outstretched, their arm reaching through the bars, skin bare to a sunbeam. The skin that he'd been sure was light and silky was gnarled. It was a leathery twisted arm, and the hand was clenched, baring long gnarled claws, but it was clearly reaching out for _him._

It was unimaginably ugly.

Ikkaku made eye contact with the person within the cage, Renji's hand still clamped over his mouth. The arm didn't match the body. He was just... He was beautiful. His face was… His eyes… Ikkaku swallowed and let out a slow breath through Renji's fingers.

The man yanked his arm back in all of a sudden, eyes still lingering on Ikkaku for a moment before he retreated back into the darkness, rustling sounding off and then going silent abruptly.

"Why is that guy in a cage?" Ikkaku asked immediately, looking to Renji, feeling betrayed. Urahara was keeping a human in a cage? Even a human _oid_ in a cage seemed so wrong that it hurt Ikkaku on some deep level. He'd never stand for a lamia or a mermaid to be held prisoner here. It seemed too cruel.

Renji pulled him up, giving him a hard look. "Ikkaku, that's not a person. That's a harpy."

Ikkaku looked back through the bars into the darkness, brushing grass off his wool pants. He was breathless, still seeing the sharp contrast between the beauty and the ugliness of the creature. "But he seemed so…" He'd seemed so human, so so pretty, at least until he'd been in the sun. "Until he…"

Renji looked at him seriously. "Don't look at a harpy in the day," he warned. "And don't let it out. It'll kill you. It's like siren song. Don't fucking do it."

Ikkaku nodded and got back to work with his friend, but he kept looking back over his shoulder towards that dark cage.

' _Do not feed.'_

Chills went down his back and he became determined to talk to the animal. There was something about it, deep yearning that he was sure they'd both felt for a moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Ikkaku kept coming by at night now. He couldn't help it. He was so interested, so curious about the harpy that he couldn't stay away. It just seemed so human that it didn't seem right to let it sit there for months on end, all by its lonesome.

He wanted to try talking to it.

He'd made sure everyone was asleep in their tents and then came out by the light of the moon. A black panther paced in its cage, snarling and clawing at the walls as he walked by, but he ignored it and came to that one isolated cage which was always set further away from the others, along with the more interesting attractions.

Sometimes he'd sit in the distance and hope to get a sight of the animal. He didn't want to be within its reaching distance, but he still wanted a good look. It didn't happen often, but sometimes it would start moving around in there and would roll into a patch of moonlight. Confirming his early assumptions, it was male, and it was completely naked. Sometimes if he didn't reveal his presence and sat a little ways away in the woods, he could see it come to the bars and strain against them. Sometimes it would fit its arms and legs through, and he'd be able to hear this loud rustling sound even from that distance. It sounded like wind beating past his ears. There would be banging, and the car would rock slightly, and eventually the harpy would give up and retreat to the corners again.

Every glimpse of its body was like sugar in Ikkaku's mouth. He'd never seen a more beautiful human form, just barely visible in the darkness, the moon shining slightly on the silvery skin. This person didn't look like a beast at all. Maybe there was some part of it that he hadn't yet seen, but how could that be? All the important bits were there. He didn't get what the supernatural part was. It didn't much look like a harpy. It seemed wholly human other than that time it had been in the sun.

Eventually, when he worked up his courage later in the week, he crept close to the cage again, feet crunching feathers against the grass. He looked down in confusion for a moment, and then into the cage.

The moon was shining inside now, and Ikkaku could see a naked form huddled in the corner, and as soon as Ikkaku spoke up, a great mangy wing moved sharply to cover its body up, hunching up so much that there was nothing visible except those feathers and fleabitten patches of flesh where its quills were falling out. Ikkaku held his breath, heart pounding. So it was true… It wasn't human after all. How on earth had that fucker, Urahara, caught something like this? More importantly, why was it being treated so cruelly? It was… It was _chained_ inside a _cage._ None of the other animals had shackles, but this one did.

Given only small glimpses, Ikkaku touched the bars, holding some meat. He knew it could smell it, because its body was heaving with desire, breath coming in gasps. It went quiet after a while and wouldn't respond to him, wouldn't even turn towards him to show its face. This was no normal animal. It was intelligent, and had the pride of a human. It had willpower and was stubborn to the point of starvation.

"Hey," he called, but it wouldn't talk to him, keeping its wings up like shutters, like some great vulture hunching its shoulders. He tried night after night to get its attention, saying the same things. "Psst. Hey there, I brought something for you," he'd say as kindly as he could, but it never worked. The harpy was ignoring him on purpose, almost bitterly so.

Ikkaku would always leave disappointed. He knew he could just put the meat inside its cage for it to eat later, if it was simply too proud to take it from him itself, but the sign had told him not to feed it, and he didn't know what would happen if he did. Sure, it was dumb, but if he was going to get in trouble for breaking the rules, he wanted it to be because it had taken the food from his hand.

He went into town to read about harpies, looking in as many legends and fairy tale books as he could. He read nothing about male harpies or shape-changing abilities or this day and night change. What he did find was _discrepancies._ Loads of them.

This 'ugly old woman' myth had actually come much later than the original story of the harpies. They were actually supposed to have been very beautiful women with wings on their backs, sent to steal food and take evildoers to hell.

When he asked Urahara about the animal, his boss merely laughed behind his fan, saying something like, 'I knew you'd figure it out eventually.' Soon he realized that he was nearly the only long-time-employed worker who hadn't known. A little miffed, but still polite enough, he went on to ask Urahara some questions, most of which were dodged. All Ikkaku discovered was that the harpy had been caught while stealing food and was not to be released. Urahara seemed to be of the opinion that the bird was merely throwing a tantrum and would come around eventually to be part of their traveling show, once it stopped hiding in the dark.

"But it's unhappy," he said with a frown.

"Its life will improve once it comes to the light." Ikkaku remembered how ugly it looked in the light, and knew that it would only become a freak attraction made to shock and scare people, another draw that would bring in more money. The animal wouldn't be set free no matter how miserable it became, and no one was allowed to feed it until it cooperated.

Ikkaku felt uneasy when he heard that.

Their traveling show had never treated an animal that way. If a lion or tiger was depressed or cranky after being captured, it would still be fed and taken care of. Simply because this harpy was more intelligent, intelligent enough to be stubborn, they were punishing it like some sort of bad child. They'd starved it for at least two years. Who knows how long it had been caged up before Ikkaku had started working here.

Ikkaku set his mind on befriending it. He'd never planned to stay in this troupe forever, and when he split, he was breaking that thing out with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Ikkaku had had one hell of a day. He was pretty irritated by the time it was closing time, having had to deal with a bratty kid throwing food and kicking his mother when she'd tried to take him home. He'd kicked the little fuck's ass himself. Well, not literally, but he'd gone off on him about respecting adults and listening to his mother when she told him it was time to go. He'd scared the kid bad enough that he was pretty sure he'd almost peed.

At any rate, he'd been half-heartedly shuffling around, folding tarps and organizing poles for the next day, when he'd heard a noise. That wasn't unusual, considering the animals still made racket sometimes even after everyone had gone to bed, but this was different. It made the hairs on his neck rise. Something wasn't quite right.

Deciding that he'd make another attempt to talk to the harpy again tonight, he headed that way, hearing more of the rattling noise. He stopped after a moment, seeing the beast near the front of its cage, lying on its stomach with its arm through the bars. Its face was smashed against the iron poles, shoulder nearly dislocating as it tried to reach out.

There was something on the ground that it was trying to get, but it was impossible. There was at least another five feet of distance that it would've had to cover.

Ikkaku watched in pity as it eventually gave up and lay there on its side, wings twisted back. It began to weep bitterly and sniffle, just lying there in despair, and Ikkaku's heart bled with compassion.

When he walked towards it and slowly came into its line of sight, its eyes snapped to him and it promptly rolled over onto its other side. It stayed there, wings wrapping around its body as it huddled on the floor and refused to look at him. Ikkaku was reminded of a child who'd been embarrassed and was sulking about it.

Ikkaku looked down at what it'd been trying to get. It was a piece of bread, probably having been tossed there earlier by that bratty kid. Ikkaku picked up the dirty slice of bread and tried to blow off the bugs and sweep it clean, but it didn't help much. He held it out, saying, "Here you go," but got no response. "It's for you. Here, take it."

It continued to ignore him, and Ikkaku sighed, placing it on the floorboards of the cage, within reach of it, should it so choose to take it. With a half-beat of its massive dusty wings, straw, insects, cobwebs, and the piece of bread blasted out of its cage, and Ikkaku doubled over, coughing through the stale air.

The bread fell pathetically to the grass in the distance, and Ikkaku got the message loud and clear. The harpy didn't want his charity or pity. It would not accept food from one of his captors. Urahara was right. The harpy had been here so long in a cage that now it was a matter of personal pride, and it would remain stubborn damn near to its death.

"Have it your way," Ikkaku mumbled privately, leaning against the side of the cage, looking back up at the moon. It was a nice night. It made his problems seem small compared to that of this poor creature.

"Hey, what's your name?" he asked finally, wondering. None of the other hands around here called it by anything. In fact, they denied its existence a lot of the time. "Do you have a name?" he asked kindly, putting his hands through the bars. Maybe it didn't have a name, but of course he wasn't going to give it one. That'd be stupid.

"What should I call you?" Ikkaku asked, knowing that the beast was offended and deeply hurt about being locked up by humans. He didn't want to insult it further. It continued to ignore him like a pro. 'Stubborn brat' was right.

"I've never seen something like you before. You seemed nice enough that time we met, right? You're a pretty amazing sight."

Silence.

He got the distinct feeling that it was mad at him, as if it felt betrayed that he'd been about to let it out but had been interrupted by Renji that time. Perhaps it hated him, just as it must hate every other member of their traveling group. Ikkaku wouldn't be surprised. Still, he longed to provide companionship for this… this…

"You… You're so beautiful," he found himself saying, and he was surprised to see one wing unroll, its pretty face turning towards him just slightly to look at him with a suspicious one-eyed expression. It didn't respond. Maybe it wasn't a matter that it was refusing to speak. Maybe it _couldn't_ speak.

Ikkaku smiled at it warmly. It didn't smile back, but it kept looking at him.

"You wanna' come out for a while?" he offered, not really thinking things through. Maybe he could leave today, right now, and it could come with him. Surely it would be grateful. Renji was wrong, there was no way it would kill him if he let it out.

It stared at him for a long time, unmoving, almost as if it hadn't heard him and was still analyzing him with that untrusting cold half-gaze. Did it understand his words?

"I've got the key," Ikkaku said with a grin, holding it up and dangling it. It perked up with interest, rolling over towards him, wings rustling around and knocking into the walls of the confined space. It looked into his eyes for a while, face so close to his from behind the bars that Ikkaku felt like he was about to be kissed. It slowly started smiling, warming right up to him, its graceful hands on the bars.

Ikkaku put his hands up towards it, holding his breath in anticipation of being dragged in or chewed on, but it kept holding onto the iron bars until he made contact. Then it smiled wider, fingers gently uncurling and curling once more, stroking his hands and wrists strangely by opening and shutting his hands almost like claws would. It was almost… _affectionate._

"Here, lemme' get your feet," Ikkaku offered, and the harpy stared at him for a moment. Ikkaku lifted one foot and pointed at his own ankle. It startled into action and grabbed one of its chains, dragging the heavy thing to its full extension so it could fit its leg through the bars. Ikkaku popped its shackles off one by one, and it practically glowed with excitement, moving to kneel in front of the door, legs spread apart slightly. Ikkaku blushed a little bit.

Its arms reached out through the bars, rubbing on him eagerly, and he gave a small laugh as he moved to unlock the door.

"No! Stop!" Renji suddenly shouted, having probably gotten up to take a piss in the woods. He was stumbling on his way out of a tent, crawling upwards and running towards him. "She'll kill you, she'll kill you if you set her free! Don't let her out!"

Ikkaku looked towards him and tried to hurry, dropping his key and then scrambling in the dirt for it. He liked Renji, really he did, but he wasn't going to let his friend help these people keep imprisoning this poor thing.

' _Let me out,'_ he suddenly heard, as if from within his own mind. His gaze snapped up into these deep purple eyes, and he felt his body go weak, all motivations and impulses dulling down and replaced by the harpy's one desire. ' _Set me free. Just open the door, yes…'_

He gaped at it for a moment, mouth open. The harpy gave a huff. ' _Don't stand there drooling like a fool, open the door.'_ Ikkaku jumped in surprise, before he smiled, stuffing the key into the lock, turning it, and yanking the chunky part of the padlock down.

"NO!" Renji shouted, grabbing him and trying to hold the door closed, but it was too late. The door flew open with a bang, and the harpy's eyes went red. Ikkaku realized then that he'd never seen it open its mouth, because he would've remembered teeth that sharp.

It leapt down from its cage and Renji dragged Ikkaku away by his armpits, screaming and shouting for help. Ikkaku just watched helplessly as people began to wake up. The harpy grunted, still that beautiful naked man, but its chest was heaving and its back suddenly convulsed and its wings spread to their full span, leaving Ikkaku breathless. He hadn't realized how cramped it had been in that cage, but there had been no possible way for it to spread its wings even halfway open in there.

It flapped them hard, taking off immediately, and with a screech, it dove down on one of Ikkaku's crewmates. Renji shouted in horror, but Ikkaku just stood there and watched as the beast's legs warped and clawed open the man's belly with wickedly sharp talons. The harpy settled on the ground and presumeably began to eat. Its back was turned, and as fires began lighting around them, he could see that Kisuke had awoken too and was shouting orders to the men.

The harpy turned and its eyes caught the candle-light. Its hands were red and dripping, and its face was red with blood, and its meal was crawling away. Ikkaku had never seen something look so hungry.

"Hold still!" Kisuke commanded, and they all froze. The harpy turned in circles, screeching menacingly, but it remained there in confusion, trying to smell where its prey was. The blood that was already on its hands was making it difficult to track the true source. Ikkaku remembered then that harpies had bad vision, and that running attracts their attention. He begged his friend to crawl faster away from the monster, but at the same time hoped that it wouldn't be killed when they recaptured it. Hell beast though it was, it was far too weak from hunger, and the muscles of its wings were surely lean from lack of use. Ikkaku knew with a sick feeling that it probably wouldn't escape unscathed.

Just as it was about to take off in flight, Kisuke unsheathed his sword from his trick-cane and stabbed its wing into the ground. The resulting shriek was unlike anything Ikkaku had ever heard or since. That noise was in his nightmares for a long long time.

Ikkaku just sat there in a daze as they got it back in its cage. Later when he went to visit Hisagi, he saw that the creature hadn't gotten a single bite out of him, but had simply clawed his body open in anticipation of a meal. Hisagi would be okay other than having some scars on his handsome face.

Ikkaku didn't go back to visit the bird for a while; he was upset, but he sympathized. He hadn't known how dangerous the beast was until now, but he still had pity for it. He would've gone a little crazy too after spending years in a box without a bite to eat.

He still couldn't stop wondering if it had smiled at him like that to trick him, or if it really had been thankful.


	4. Chapter 4

' _You,'_ it spoke in his mind, lips not moving, ' _You. Let me out.'_ It sounded like a command rather than a plea. Ikkaku sat there cross-legged in front of its cage, sighing once again. The straw on the floorboards was dark with dried blood, but it seemed to be okay, even after being stabbed like that. It had been about a month since the harpy had almost escaped.

It had sulked and moped and ignored him for almost that long, but recently, in the past few nights, it had reluctantly come out to look at him, simply sitting at the edge of the bars, tilting its head innocently and letting him talk to it. 'Why do you keep coming here,' it seemed to ask, but it never spoke. Sometimes Ikkaku could hear it in his head, and it was almost always asking for freedom.

Yumichika. Its name was Yumichika and it was a he after all. Ikkaku had been right.

He was beautiful, and Ikkaku loved him. He loved this boy with his vulture's wings and his bloodthirstiness. Ikkaku was so fucking hopeless. He could've married a milkmaid and had a son, but _no_ , he had to have feelings for a feathery bratty cannibal who would sooner bite a chunk off him than kiss him.

' _Let me out. Let me out. Let me free,'_ it repeated endlessly, staring into him and pacing around behind the bars. It tried time and time again to plant its intention in his mind, and although it was tempting, Ikkaku's willpower was like steel. ' _My wings hurt. Let me out of here.'_

Ikkaku just sighed and rested his face on his hand. "I can't let you out. What if you hurt someone again?" he accused, and Yumichika just shrugged absently.

' _I couldn't help it,'_ he responded, and Ikkaku blinked for a minute. It usually didn't reply to him or acknowledge that he had spoken. He'd been wondering for a while if it had even been able to understand him. It seemed unable to make any sort of verbal reply, because it didn't open its mouth other than to eat or scream. Maybe it was finally willing to have some kind of telepathic conversation.

"Hmph," Ikkaku grumped. "Sure, sure. Why should I let you out?"

' _Let me out. I wish to fly. Let me out.'_

"Why should I? You're just gonna' eat somebody."

' _Such is life.'_

"No!" Ikkaku said incredulously, " _Not_ such is life - Such is _death!"_ Ikkaku stubbornly crossed his arms. This feathery guy was pretty infuriating, but entertaining nonetheless. Ikkaku just wished they could touch, but he didn't dare to anymore. He had before when he'd been about to free the beast, but now he was sure if he came within reach, Yumichika would take a bite out of him.

' _Let me out, mortal. Let me free.'_ Yumichika stared at him, eyes open wide and gazing into his soul. Ikkaku scowled, moving his hands in a 'no way' gesture.

" _No way,_ " he punctuated, glaring back into its eyes to show it that he wouldn't crack and that its little siren song was no use. "You messed up my friend's face and you got me in trouble with my boss. I'm not letting you out."

Yumichika slumped to the floor, shoulder first, hitting the boards with a _whump_ and then staying there miserably. "Look, I… I _can't_ , okay?" Ikkaku said guiltily. Yumichika didn't move, simply staring out through the bars into the night, and although Ikkaku tried time and time again to goad him into ceasing his tantrum, it didn't work. Yumichika just lay there, unresponsive.

By the next morning, he hadn't moved, and still lay there as the sunlight crept in. He was close enough to the bars for people to see. Ikkaku couldn't bear to go over there and tried to ignore the cries of excitement and disgust. Kisuke was certainly happy that night, but still Yumichika was not fed. Ikkaku decided he'd had enough, consequences be damned.

"Get out of this shithole," he said, the door swinging open, the squeak being the only sound in the still night. "Fly away," he hissed, and Yumichika's head snapped up from where he'd been laying despondent.

Renji's words came back to him. ' _She'll kill you if you set her free.'_

Ikkaku saw its eyes turn red, but he turned his back and ran. He ran and ran as fast as he could through the woods, but it wasn't long before talons sunk into his shoulders and he was sent tumbling to the ground hard. Damnit, Yumichika should just fly away and not waste time with him! Shit, he was getting eaten!

Ikkaku balled himself up and put his hands over his head, feeling sharp claws raking his back, tearing at his flesh. This is what he got for being so stupid. What kind of fool ran from a predatory bird? Ikkaku screamed, rolling over and kicking when teeth pierced his skin and ripped. Yumichika was trying to eat him, but he was still alive!

"Stop!" he begged, "Don't waste time with me! Fly away from here! I did this so you could be free! So _go!"_ he shouted, surprised when the cutting sensation stopped abruptly.

He looked up warily, guarding his eyes from any swiping claws that might come. Ikkaku watched the harpy fall to its hands and knees, its wings drooping to the ground.

It eased back on its haunches, perching on the balls of its feet like a bird, and Ikkaku blushed a little bit at the sight of its bare body. It was stark naked and so beautiful. Yumichika held his stomach and whined. He shuddered and moaned aloud pitifully through his sharp teeth, gazing at Ikkaku longingly.

' _I'm so hungry,'_ Ikkaku heard in his mind, and the voice sounded so choked and desperate that he almost offered his arm as a chew toy again. ' _They never fed me.'_ Yumichika dropped to one forearm, then the other, head hanging. ' _They never…'_ He was so weak, shaking all over.

"How long was it that they kept you?" Ikkaku asked, but there came no answer.

Yumichika looked up at him and licked his teeth, clawing his way towards him on his belly, strength almost gone. He was looking at Ikkaku like he was the most delicious thing in the world, and his mouth was watering like crazy. Ikkaku just backed up out of reach and the harpy stopped dragging itself, reaching weakly for his ankle, but ultimately giving up.

"I'll bring something. Just stay here," he promised, hurrying off. "Don't eat anything that can talk until I get back!" he called behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Ikkaku woke up with a start, practically falling out of the tree he'd situated himself in. It took a moment to remember where he was and then _why_ he was there, but it all came back soon enough. He'd not felt comfortable sleeping on the ground near that bloodthirsty monster, so he'd climbed up here and clung onto a branch all night, listening to these horrible scraping sounds. He knew that since Yumichika could fly, sleeping in a tree wouldn't make him any safer, because Yumichika could obviously get up there after him, but Ikkaku had felt more secure that way, okay?

Looking down with trepidation, assuming that Yumichika had left in the night, he was surprised when he saw him sitting on his ass on the ground, gnawing on a bone with determination, all the meat gone off of everything Ikkaku had brought him. Bones and cartilage lay strewn in the grass, pure white and completely bare. Yumichika's big wings were spread out on the grass, not looking so good at all.

Ikkaku hadn't really gotten a clear glimpse of his wings before, and although Yumichika was sitting in the shade to preserve his beauty, it was daytime, so there was enough light for Ikkaku to see that his wings were in really bad shape.

The grey dusty feathers were shedding off, leaving Yumichika looking mangy. The bare pink patches of flesh were rife with crawling insects, some areas even bleeding, peppered with open sores. The top joint was completely bare, rubbed raw from where it had chafed against the top of his cramped cage. That had to be incredibly painful. It was no wonder the animal was so violent and quick to lash out. Even so, the bird had eaten already, so Ikkaku climbed down, deeming it safe. He immediately stopped short when Yumichika's bloody face turned towards him.

Ikkaku heard a loud growl and took a step back, almost peeing himself when he realized it was the harpy's _stomach._ Suddenly, its cheeks puffed out and it put a hand to its mouth, then exhaling quietly. It went back to chewing on those bones, scraping its teeth, the noise making his toes curl. Ikkaku just stared for a minute, blinking once or twice... This thing... It had seriously just burped _politely._

Ikkaku was pretty relieved, even though he was watching a pretty grisly display. That had just been a digestion noise. He'd thought it was still hungry for a minute.

' _I'm still hungry.'_

Shit.

' _But I feel much better than I did. I thank you.'_ Ikkaku looked up and saw it gazing into his face, bones abandoned for now. It gave him a gentle smile that sharply contrasted with the gruesome smear of dried blood across its cheeks and mouth. Its beauty was extraordinary.

' _Come closer to me, so that I may look at you,'_ it told him. Ikkaku stood there for a moment, looking behind him and all around.

"Me?" he asked, pointing to his chest. It nodded. Ikkaku still could never tell if it was talking to him or if he was imagining things. Seriously, the voice was in his head, so…

' _Come closer. I wish to look upon you.'_

Oh right, its vision was shitty. Still, those words sounded like the big bad wolf tempting Red Riding Hood, and Ikkaku cautiously stood there for a moment as it waited patiently. Well, he'd already made two bad decisions in the last twenty four hours. Better make it an even three.

He knelt down in the grass to put himself at eye level and crawled over to it, sitting in front of it. Yumichika's great wings made Ikkaku feel smaller by comparison, but in reality, Yumichika's body was thinner than his, and not as tall either.

' _Closer still.'_

Ikkaku swallowed and leaned forward towards Yumichika's pretty face. He could smell rotten meat and tried not to breathe, intimidated as Yumichika's large eyes crawled over his face. Purple and somehow... golden... and... reddish, bloodshot... _beautiful._ Ikkaku felt woozy all of a sudden, blinking.

Ikkaku almost jumped out of his skin when fingers raised to his face and touched. Yumichika held a hand up strangely, like he didn't like his own arm being attached to his body, and stroked Ikkaku's left eye marking with just his middle fingertip, very softly, with curious eyes.

He was so very gentle.

Ikkaku swallowed and closed his eyes for a minute, letting Yumichika touch him and squeeze his ears. He even let him peek inside his shirt and look at his back and shoulder blades. Yumichika touched things only with his fingertips and positioned his hands like claws, but he was so so gentle.

Damnit. Ikkaku hated it, but it was mostly just that he hated loving it. He knew that as long as Yumichika was sweet and soft like this, Ikkaku would start to see that as who he really was, not as this murderous beast who could tear into him at the slightest offense. Ikkaku had fallen for a killer, but that was the price he paid - to have his pulse quicken in fear at every touch, lest he be lulled into a sense of security that could cost him his life.

Still, the way Yumichika touched him... it felt like he'd never hurt him.

Yumichika finally lost interest in him and went back to his bones, gnawing away for even the slightest piece of meat that might be left.

' _I want flesh. I hunger.'_

Ikkaku breathed nervously, but stood up, skin still tingling from the personal attention. "Let's get some flesh, then," he said with conviction. If the harpy was calming down a little bit, wasn't it his job to protect people from it? Maybe it could stay with him? And if it ate him, well that was what he deserved for being idiot enough to trust it.

' _You offer yourself?'_ Yumichika perked up eagerly, looking ravenous, but Ikkaku quickly shook his head.

"No, no, no, no, _not me_ ," he said firmly, feeling his stomach drop at the sight of Yumichika's pupils thinning.

' _Fear not._ _I promise, when I eat you, I'll leave your head,'_ Yumichika assured, eyes closing as he nodded to Ikkaku a few times.

"No!" Ikkaku shrieked, stomping his foot. "Shitty-bird! I'm not food! I let you free, so you can't eat me! Show some gratitude!"

Yumichika gave a bitter grimace, glaring, eyes flickering dangerously. Ikkaku clammed up, but held his ground. Finally Yumichika made a chuffing noise, turning away, seeming to accept that.

' _You aren't entirely intolerable. I still feel you'd do better as a meal,'_ Yumichika emoted begrudgingly, _'but perhaps I could enjoy your company as well... Maybe.'_

He put the bone in his mouth and snapped it, chewing on the pointy end for the marrow. Ikkaku just swallowed hard. He was so vicious, but so beautiful, so so beautiful. Ikkaku had always been a sucker for a pretty face, and he was sure it was gonna' be the death of him.

"Yeah, let's get you some flesh. And maybe some clothes too." Yumichika looked up in confusion then, and Ikkaku held his shirt off his body a little, pointing to it.

Yumichika just snorted, rejecting the idea, and went back to what he was doing. Ikkaku gave an exasperated sigh. Maybe he'd just have to get used to looking at that naked butt.

… That wouldn't be so bad.


	6. Chapter 6

Ikkaku began to suspect that his friends were in serious danger, as Yumichika had been very quiet and secretive lately, not to mention that he'd been hunting constantly, bringing back dead animals like a cat, laying them at Ikkaku's feet. That wasn't to say that he ever let Ikkaku _have_ anything, always snatching it back if he reached out to touch it, which he didn't. He didn't want dead owls or dead piglets, or fuck, a dead _horse._ He still didn't know how Yumichika had dragged that thing so far on his own.

Yumichika wanted revenge, Ikkaku knew it. A grudge that great is not easily forgotten. He'd heard that his traveling group had left the country. No doubt that tool, Urahara, had freaked out when that cage had turned up empty, and had vacated the premises, fearing for his life. Ikkaku was glad that Renji and Hisagi and his other friends were gone from the immediate area, not wanting them to get eaten, but Ikkaku had no doubt that if Yumichika saw that group again, he'd go rabid.

 _'They will pay for my humiliation,'_ Yumichika said, when Ikkaku brought up the fact that he was kind of quiet. Ikkaku couldn't hear Yumichika's thoughts or _anything_ that he didn't deliberately send to his mind. ' _Humiliation, that of which can only be reconciled through revenge. Revenge paid by way of blood.'_

Ikkaku hoped to God that Renji's stupid loyal heart didn't make him feel like he had to come rescue him or something. He hoped Renji thought he was dead and wasn't sticking around to try to find him, because Ikkaku truly didn't want Renji to be eaten.

' _I've always hated humans,'_ Yumichika said, red eyes widening, his mouth opening slightly in a snarl, teeth held apart.

"It might make you feel better to just let things go?" Ikkaku suggested hopefully. Yumichika simply brooded, as hell creatures often do.

' _I will not forgive what they've done. They locked me away like a pet, like any animal, and they treated me wrongly.'_ Yumichika glared, eyes wide, but intense. ' _I am not above bitterness by any means. I can live for eons, and my grudges last with me.'_

Ikkaku nodded after a moment, supposing it was hopeless. "That can't feel good to keep on your shoulders, though."

Yumichika suddenly jerked, discomfort coming over his features at the word 'shoulders'. He immediately writhed around, trying to twist his arm back to scratch at the joint of his large wings. Unable to get a good reach, he whined and flopped onto the ground, squirming on top of his wings to grind them into the dirt, in an attempt to scratch them.

After ten minutes of scratching vigorously with his chipped nails and biting himself to stop the itching, Yumichika rested in his typical squatting position, chest heaving.

His wings were spread out on the grass, the grey mangy feathers shedding off, already being replaced by new quills, a few of them having sprouted from their husks to reveal shiny black new growth. The pink areas of his wings were rigid where new feathers were sure to come in soon.

Ikkaku hadn't been able to convince him to get in the water, but Yumichika had conceded to have a sand bath in a patch of dirt, preening and pulling out feathers that were particularly bothering him, gnawing at his raw patches of flesh and picking off bugs. Ikkaku wasn't permitted to touch, but that was fine – he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to touch. Although Yumichika's wings were looking better, they still seemed disease-ridden.

' _I hunger,'_ Yumichika complained, drawing his gaze away from his grey mangy wings. As always when he said this, he began eyeballing Ikkaku, who was quick to suggest something else.

"How about mountain lion? Or goat? There's probably somea' that around here, go look around. You feel like meat?" Yumichika pulled his lower jaw open with his own fingers, baring his sharp teeth, eyes large and reddish, saliva gathering on his tongue. Now that Ikkaku thought about it, Yumichika teeth were much too large to be normal, not long like a wolf's, but large like… a _shark._

' _I hunger, I want it, I want it,_ ' Yumichika said enthusiastically, humming aloud and doing a little sway of his shoulders, letting his head roll lightly as he merrily fantasized about meat. ' _Right now, all the time, in my mouth. Meat, meat, I want to eat,'_ Yumichika sang, eyes closed serenely.

Ikkaku tried really hard not to smile at his little song. Yumichika blinked then, looking up at him with a mild expression, eyes innocent.

 _'I like biting the heads. I like the crunching sound of skulls in my teeth,'_ Yumichika informed him. ' _Especially fish heads.'_

"That's nice," Ikkaku said uncomfortably, clearing his throat. He wondered if _his_ skull could fit in Yumichika's big mouth. He'd seen him gulp down things that should've been impossible in one bite.

"I can fish," Ikkaku mentioned. That seemed to make Yumichika think about what he _really_ wanted to eat, which wasn't fish, but human meat. Ikkaku supposed that trying to get him to eat all this other stuff was like telling someone to eat candle wax instead of cheese, perhaps not to that extreme – either way, it was clear that Yumichika was meant to be eating human flesh.

Yumichika made a low exhalation, mouth still open, teeth still on full display. Then he closed his mouth, saliva on his chin as he licked his lips really slow, not breaking eye contact. Ikkaku shuddered. Yumichika then put on an innocent expression that wasn't entirely an act. ' _Are you quite sure you don't want to offer yourself up to me? You should be grateful to be eaten by one such as I.'_

"Uh…" Ikkaku sweat nervously. "I think I'll pass," he said, averting his gaze. Yumichika's eyes were far too intense for him at times. He'd begun to try to color-code his mood-ring eyes. They were purple at a normal, homeostatic, flat mood, red in anger or when Yumichika was hunting, and they went golden when he was gorging himself or was particularly content. That gold one was kind of iffy, because it happened at odd times.

Like right now, it was almost like Yumichika was imagining him as a roast with an apple in its mouth, because his eyes were a hazy mix between purple and gold, cloudy and longing. Ikkaku wanted to grant his every desire, but he wasn't going to put his arm on a lance and call it yakiniku or something. He wasn't _that_ much of a martyr for love.

Giving someone what they want on a silver platter was just an expression, after all.

' _I would only take a few bites,'_ Yumichika informed him with a hopeful pout, fluttering his eyelashes and licking his lips real slow. Ikkaku almost felt tempted to give in, but _no._

"No. Don't eat me. No biting, no scratching, no eating. I am not food." Yumichika's shoulders slumped, but he nodded, lip sticking out with a pout. Ikkaku seemed to have to remind him of that a lot, but Yumichika seemed to accept it, although he kept trying, hoping Ikkaku would change his mind.

' _Perhaps I'll ration you,'_ Yumichika teased, smiling, eyes twinkling with mirth, entirely joking… entirely. Ikkaku gulped, but smiled back, sitting down on the ground and letting Yumichika crawl towards him and rub his cheek against his arm like a cat, as if the animalistic part of him was trying to exchange their scents or something. ' _So that you last as long as possible.'_

The smell wasn't great, and it certainly didn't feel too nice to have a wing draped around his shoulder – it was itchy – but Ikkaku smiled like crazy. Yumichika liked him, even if just a little, for his personality. Yumichika did feel gratitude and wanted him around, even though he wanted to eat him really badly. Yumichika could easily tear into him right now, but he didn't.

Ikkaku swiftly pecked Yumichika on the cheek – no, not in the bird way.


	7. Chapter 7

Ikkaku finally got the gall to tell Yumichika that they had to get moving. They couldn't stick around near this town any longer without people noticing the absence of their larger stock – more than they already _had_ noticed their large animals being killed and carried off, that is.

Yumichika agreed. He wanted to track down his kidnappers and drink their blood. Ikkaku supposed that their goals were different, but the means were the same. Either way, they'd begun to travel, having continued on through the woods away from town, on to the next, and then the next.

Needless to say, Yumichika was displeased when it took more than a few days of walking. Even if the creature had waited years in a cell, it wasn't very patient, especially when it came to food and violence. It had taken quite a bit of effort to appease Yumichika, and Ikkaku had even had to give up a few of his own meals to keep him under control. Nevertheless, they continued wandering the woods at a sluggish pace.

Yumichika would fold his massive wings back and walk on his own two legs, his wingtips dragging heavily on the ground, far too large to be practical. Sometimes Yumichika liked to fly at night to bypass walking, but luckily he was smart enough to know that he couldn't do so during the day without causing severe alarm to anyone who might be around. He didn't want anything to see him coming, and on top of it, Yumichika liked to linger in the shadows.

Ikkaku gave a long sigh when light began to penetrate the trees, moving through the brambles and emerging into the sun. Not hearing any more rustling from behind him, he called back, "C'mon, Yumichika, this way. We can probably make it to Portside by tomorrow." There was sage grass as far as the eye can see, the plains stretching to the horizon and beyond. Ikkaku wondered why the forest just ended like that. Maybe there'd been a fire.

Turning when Yumichika didn't respond verbally or otherwise, Ikkaku saw him standing there in a half crouch at the edge of the protective shade of the woods. Ikkaku beckoned him to follow and Yumichika held out a hand to him, keeping eye-contact, but when Ikkaku reached out a hand in return, Yumichika drew back, just short of moving into the sun.

He paced wildly for a moment at the edge of the shadow and when Ikkaku called him again, he took a step back, seeming to lose confidence, turning to retreat back into the comforting darkness of the woods. Yumichika wouldn't come into the sun, even at the cost of losing his new human. Yumichika was going to flee.

"Wait!" Ikkaku cried in panic, seeing that it was a serious thing for Yumichika to keep his appearance hidden, that he _really_ didn't want to come into the sunlight. For the first time, Ikkaku wondered if the sun actually hurt Yumichika's skin or something or if he just really really hated his appearance in the light. Yumichika ignored him and made to turn back, but Ikkaku cried out for him again. "No, wait!" Yumichika paused for a moment, retreating more slowly.

"We can- we can stay here," Ikkaku promised, coming back into the dark with him. "It's fine, we can wait until nightfall to leave the woods. It's fine," he repeated. "Let's stay here until it's dark." Yumichika looked back in his eyes, expression unreadable. He couldn't tell what Yumichika was thinking, his thoughts silent, but his eyes were a confusing mix of color, some of everything in there, bubbling and mixing like melting candy.

Yumichika huffed in satisfaction and turned back, Ikkaku following until they were a safe distance within the woods. It was all Ikkaku could do to ignore Yumichika tearing a bird to bits, piece by piece over the next few hours. Feathers were everywhere, that of the crow mixing in with the ones Yumichika kept shedding. Ikkaku ignored him and wandered off, actually getting himself thoroughly lost in thought, and consequently, the woods. It was sundown before he knew it, and the terrain had changed, the forest having grown around many large rocks that protruded from the ground. Had he really walked for that long?

It all happened so fast. He'd been looking out at the sunset, eyes shielded by his hand, wondering when Yumichika would catch up to him. He thought he could hear the grass being blown by the wind, expect he couldn't feel even the slightest breeze. Suddenly, the air was knocked out of his lungs, and his face hit the dirt, a tremendous weight having slammed into his shoulder. Sharp points dug into his back and curled, drawing blood and holding him still, but Ikkaku flipped with all his might and rolled away, staggering to his feet, turning to face his assailant.

While he'd fully expected a starved Yumichika to be on the other end of the clearing, what was lunging at him again was a sleek panther, having come down from the mountain at dusk to hunt, and he'd been deemed better than a deer, it seemed. She was starving and wounded, obviously, as no panther goes after humans unprovoked, but that just made her all the more dangerous.

It moved so fast that Ikkaku had no option of turning to run, and his instinct was it throw up his arm to protect his face, which was a mistake. Teeth immediately sunk into his forearm and dragged him forward, puncturing his flesh. Ikkaku panicked, screaming and trying to tug away, but all he accomplished was to get those jaws to tighten on his arm until his bones groaned in protest. It shook him around violently, as if to tear his arm from his torso, but he'd regained his senses at that point and in a fit of adrenaline, punched it directly in the head.

It let go in surprise, yowling, and Ikkaku scrambled back, turning to run, but it gave chase, quickly overtaking him and pinning him on the ground. Ikkaku covered his head with his arms, screaming his lungs out and swearing like a sailor, but suddenly the cat's weight left him and an eardrum-perforating shriek ripped through the air. Ikkaku actually clapped his hands over his ears in pain, looking around for the source, only to see Yumichika fighting and baring his teeth at the furious panther. He didn't know which one looked more fearsome.

Ikkaku didn't dare run from the scene, not wanting to attract their attention onto _him,_ particularly that of Yumichika. He just held his wounds and stayed as still as he could, watching them fight, howling and clawing at each other. He was gasping and his heart was pounding, and he winced, screwing his eyes shut as Yumichika's jaws closed onto the animal's neck, forcing its head to the ground. It struggled for a few moments, and eventually went slack, but Yumichika did not let go.

They both stayed motionless for probably a full two minutes, Ikkaku's heart still beating wildly as he stared at those horrible red eyes and their cruelty. Yumichika finally moved, releasing his bite, and flapped his wings hard, folding them. Ikkaku hurriedly turned away when Yumichika began eating, unable to stomach it, but that little movement was enough.

He could hear Yumichika go still, and inwardly swore. The air had caught the blood, the human blood on his hands. Shit. _Shit._

Ikkaku watched as Yumichika's red eyes turned onto him. Ikkaku fought down every animalistic urge to survive within him that told him to run, and just stayed motionless, watching Yumichika raise his nose to the wind. Yumichika smelled him, he smelled his blood, the fresh blood that was still running down his arm in warm streams. Ikkaku's heart stopped when Yumichika's eyes honed in on him again; human's blood was much more appealing than that of just any animal. He was dead meat.

Ikkaku shouted as with a jolted movement, Yumichika was suddenly pinning him to the ground, his wings blocking out the moonlight. Ikkaku remained still, hyperventilating. This was it. It's over. It was all over. He'd fucked around with the wrong creature and he hadn't left when he'd had the chance. He was _finished_ _._ Yumichika was going to eat him.

Yumichika's body shuddered, and Ikkaku made a very unmanly noise as the harpy leaned down suddenly, shoving his nose against his neck. Not the… not the blood? Ikkaku blinked, but didn't dare move even a micron as Yumichika inhaled deeply, sniffing and smelling around against the crook of his shoulder, finally remaining still and just pressing his nose hard against him. Ikkaku couldn't feel whether Yumichika's mouth was open or poised to bite, but he could definitely feel the fingers digging into his biceps.

He couldn't hear anything from Yumichika. His mind seemed silent, but the message was clear. Ikkaku was Yumichika's meal, his prey, and he wouldn't be shared with other predators.

Ikkaku eeped again when Yumichika finally moved, snaking his skinny arms around him and drawing him into his embrace. Ikkaku thought he was being hugged for a moment and almost moved to hug back, but his arms were knocked away when Yumichika flapped his wings. Ikkaku clung on tight with both arms and legs, yelping in surprise at the violent lurch. He screwed his eyes shut tight, but the wind only whipped past him for a moment or so. He cautiously opened one eye, only to see that Yumichika had placed him in a tree, like a deer killed by a mountain lion so that it would be safe from other predators. Fuck.

Rather than going back for all the fresh panther meat on the ground, Yumichika perched on a high branch and hunched his wings up like a vulture, staring out into the night. He seemed to be waiting for Ikkaku to sleep, but Ikkaku lay awake for hours, just staring up at the night sky. What the fuck was he doing? What the fuck was he doing with his life?

When other predators came into range, Yumichika would take off and defend his territory, but he still just left his kill laying there on the ground, returning to a high branch to remain a sentinel of the night. Fuck, Ikkaku was falling for a creature that was clawing tree trunks and standing guard to keep the wolves away.

Strangely enough, he suddenly felt wetness on his cheek, but he was laughing, the high finally wearing off and the near-death experience pouring out of him. He'd been scared shitless, hell, he didn't know which had scared him more, but fuck, he'd been scared. It was funny though, he didn't feel like running away, and that was what was so crazy.

Yumichika was looking down at him then. ' _Why are you crying?'_

Ikkaku loved the thrill. He loved the fear. He loved the pain enough to stay. If he ran, he'd die, but he didn't want to run. If he stayed, he'd surely die as well, but he didn't want to go. He was such a fucking idiot, and he knew so, and to stay anyways and willingly be an idiot made him an even _bigger_ idiot.

' _Why are you laughing?'_ Yumichika noted with alarm, but did not leave his post.

They say love makes the greatest fools, and Ikkaku knew it was true. That made him a fool, and if ignorance is a fool's greatest asset, and if ignorance is bliss, then Ikkaku had nothing to worry about.

"I'm okay," Ikkaku promised, his laughter ceasing, tears fading as he smiled up at Yumichika, whose entire form was dark due to the back-lighting of the moon. All he could see were his eyes and the light sheen of moonlight just visible at the tops of his wings. His whole body was black, his face invisible. He looked like a bat out of hell, but Ikkaku just smiled.

Yumichika's glowing eyes bled golden for a moment, swirling and eventually turning purple, finally turning away from him again in satisfaction.

Ikkaku would be fine. There were worse things to be eaten alive by.


	8. Chapter 8

Ikkaku awoke in a tree again, a massive tree that left him high above the ground, and he was surrounded by straw and twigs, many of them poking into any exposed areas of skin. He yawned and looked out at the sky, feeling ridiculous. He was in a nest.

Yumichika perched on a branch above him, squatting there like the bird he was, but Ikkaku was sure he only did it to annoy him. Yumichika looked down at him with a little smile and flapped his wings once, sending a flurry of shedding grey feathers into his face.

This bastard.

Ikkaku just groaned and flopped back down into the big bed Yumichika had made them about a month ago. Yumichika seemed to hum silently from the way his eyes closed and his smile stretched serenely. He settled down next to Ikkaku and covered him with a wing, nuzzling his face. As much as Ikkaku appreciated the blanket, the smell was that of a butcher shop in the heat of summer.

"Oi, let go."

' _No.'_ Yumichika held him tighter just to spite him.

Ikkaku groaned, giving the sky a dead-pan glare. Fuck his life and his bird-brained best friend. He had set him free, but Yumichika didn't seem intent on ever setting _him_ free in return. Not that he minded. He really didn't. As long as he didn't get eaten, what was really the problem here?

Once they'd decided they'd probably made it into the neighboring country, they'd settled down at the bottom of a mountain in a large tree. Ikkaku had accepted that this pretty guy he'd fallen for was a monster and that no matter how nice he seemed at times, he still had to keep his guard up. He'd woken up to find Yumichika tasting him once or twice, but it never went farther than that. He was sure that Yumichika had eaten at least one human since they'd been together now, because sometimes he'd come back to find him feasting on bloody unrecognizable parts, but Ikkaku didn't feel like he was in any real danger of being devoured. Yumichika liked him too much to make him into food.

The only really unbearable thing about their friendship was that Ikkaku couldn't eat anywhere near Yumichika, or his food would be stolen away without fail and gobbled up, no matter _what_ it was. Sometimes Yumichika would even be guilty or confused by it afterwards, as if it were this compulsion or some kind of kleptomania that he couldn't control. Ikkaku learned to deal with it by eating like a slob, cramming whatever he had as a meal down his throat as fast as possible. Sometimes even that didn't work. He didn't think Yumichika could share food if either of their lives depended on it, so Ikkaku had accepted the fact that he had to eat on his own in town while Yumichika was somewhere else. His friend was a man-eating monster, and he'd have to make _some_ adjustments for it.

He'd seen Yumichika in the sun by now, of course. They'd been traveling together for a while now, so it was inevitable that Yumichika had come into a few sunbeams, even though he was pretty good at remaining in the shadows. Ikkaku didn't like looking at him at those times, because he was truly hideous and really scary, but he never said that out loud of course. Yumichika was sensitive about it.

It wasn't as if it were a transformation either. More like, he was seeing what was really there. 'The truth comes to light' and all that. It happened the moment the sun touched Yumichika's skin, almost like there were a lens change on Ikkaku's vision or something. It was seamless. Whatever was in the sun was revealed as the hideous beast he truly was. He'd only been able to look into Yumichika's warped face once, and he truly believed that he might be from hell.

If his beauteous counterpart was from heaven, it'd make sense that his extraordinary beauty was matched by his ugliness.

"Oi," Ikkaku had asked one day, wings enfolding his body as Yumichika sat behind him, chin on his shoulder, nosing around against his neck. He trusted Yumichika not to bite, but he still got suspicious when he'd hear grunts and pitiful whines, as if Yumichika wanted to bite _so_ badly but knew he wasn't allowed to.

"Are you a harpy, or an angel gone mad?" Harpies were supposed to be female anyway. Besides that, he'd thought that harpy's wings _were_ their arms, but Yumichika had wings _and_ arms. This guy was a mystery.

Yumichika just smiled, not replying.

Ikkaku didn't really care what the answer was. He just leaned in and held his breath against the smell of rotten meat, kissing him on the lips. Yumichika continued smiling, not responding, but still seeming to enjoy it, as he always did. He stuck his face out further for more, and Ikkaku continued, making a sappy 'mwah' sound.

The bare body that wrapped around him no longer got a rise out of him. He was completely used to Yumichika's nakedness by now, but the sight still dazzled him. It just didn't draw his gaze _there_ anymore. As often… All the time. No, it didn't. Ikkaku had self control. It was getting easier, that was for sure. He'd have to deal with it, because Yumichika rejected the idea of clothes and completely refused to wear anything, as if to say, 'what do I have to be ashamed of?'

Absolutely nothing.

"You like this?" he asked halfway through a kiss, and Yumichika nodded, finally making those stupid 'bird lips' that kids often do when they try to give a kiss. Ikkaku kissed him once on the nose and then moved back to his mouth, holding Yumichika's face. Yumichika's mouth moved against his uncertainly, slowly, not really like a kiss at all, but Ikkaku didn't care. He wanted to devour this man, he wanted to make love, he wanted to be enfolded in Yumichika's wings and taken away. He didn't care if it was siren song or a lure. He didn't care. A harpy's mouth was touching his body and it wasn't trying to take a chunk out of him. Yumichika had to feel something real back for him, and that meant something.

"Why do you like it if you don't know how to kiss?" A dumb question like that was gonna' get a dumb answer and he knew it.

Yumichika smiled in a purposefully creepy manner, biting his nose playfully, drawing blood on accident even though it hadn't been a hard bite. Ikkaku yelped, and held the cut, glaring. Yumichika laughed breathily, no voice escaping, just air.

 _'Because you taste good.'_

Aw fuck. Ikkaku groaned and his head flopped onto Yumichika's shoulder. Damn it.


	9. Chapter 9

Specially requested chapter done for kxrahxna, who was a runner up in my 300 followers contest on my ikkayumi ask blog on tumblr. This story is still completed and won't be continued

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. . .

Months had gone by and there wasn't a grey feather left on Yumichika, all of it having been pushed out and then picked off as it shed to make way for the sleek black new growth. With his fresh feathers, Yumichika wanted to fly more than ever, and obviously since flying in the forest wasn't really possible, and flying above the cover of the trees without being touched by the sun wasn't either, Yumichika was otherwise confined to the ground at all hours of the day. All of which meant that they didn't cover very much ground, since on foot, Yumichika was rather slow and extremely whiny.

For one, his wings dragged. They were so large that if he folded them, they dragged, and if he didn't fold them, they dragged more; both options ended in Yumichika becoming very cranky at the amount of dirt picked up and carried with him as they walked along. For two, Yumichika just wasn't used to walking and apparently hadn't had calluses on the soles of his feet, so the tender flesh was being poked and prodded by every twig, every rock, ever rough patch of ground. His aching feet and wings made for one very unhappy camper, and although Yumichika couldn't talk or verbalize his distress, he made do with screeching just fine.

There was a very clear solution, but Ikkaku had been hesitant up until now. That night though, Yumichika had had quite enough. They weren't moving quickly enough for his tastes, and he was fed up with Ikkaku's reluctance.

"You ain't carryin' me, Yumichika," Ikkaku insisted, "and that's flat. I've seen your talon-leggie-things when you change. You ain't puttin' those things anywhere near my arms." Yumichika picked up a foot and looked at it almost curiously, violet eyes glancing up to Ikkaku slowly as if to assess what he meant.

"Don't gimme' that innocent look like you don't know what I mean. You're not foolin' me for a second, birdbrain. You can't act like you're smarter than me all the time and then try to play dumb."

' _I don't understand your concern. My feet are as harmless as any other bird's are. You'd let a hawk perch on your arm, wouldn't you?'_

"A hawk couldn't pick up my weight, so it wouldn't have a reason to dig its claws in that hard!"

 _'Honestly, you humans are so ridiculous. You frustrate me so much, sometimes I just want to-to-!'_

"Oh yeah, real nice! End every argument with 'Ikkaku, you make me so mad I could just tear you limb from limb and eat you alive!' Y'know the shock value on that one is pretty much gone for me!"

' _I've never said I'd carry you with my feet, you silly stupid man. You could just tell me that you're afraid, that's enough of a reason for me, you know.'_

"Not wantin' my flesh gouged out with claws and bein' afraid are two different things."

' _For Hell's sake, just rest between my shoulders and put your arms around my neck. I will fly, and you may sleep, since you get lazy in the night for some odd reason.'_

"What? No. No way," Ikkaku protested, switching gears with a wrinkled nose.

' _Oh, what is it now?'_ Yumichika replied with a frustrated expression.

"I'll be too heavy, won't I? I'll hurt your back."

Yumichika sighed and closed his eyes, a hand over them, and wow, Ikkaku had never seen Yumichika express exasperation, but there it was. ' _I've carried you before, fool, when you got yourself tangled up with that wildcat. I've placed you in my nests, haven't I?'_

"That's not the same. That took like two seconds. I'll wear you out if you fly with me on your back all night."

' _That sounds suspiciously like an excuse.'_

"Well fine then!" Ikkaku finally conceded, "Just don't come cryin' ta' me about how heavy I am." Yumichika smiled toothily and spread his wings apart, settling them to the ground as he knelt down. Ikkaku had to walk around him in a wide arc to avoid crunching his longer feathers, and then stood behind him, looking warily at his slender and completely bare back.

It took him a couple tries to properly wrap himself onto Yumichika's smaller body since he was hesitant and unsure about where to rest his weight. He was sure Yumichika wouldn't even be able to stand with him on a piggyback, but to his surprise, he rose seemingly effortlessly, arms securely wrapped beneath his knees. He wasted no time at all, flashing a grin and giving a quick warning of 'are you holding on?' before he flapped his wings hard and then a few more times to lift off the ground, which disappeared alarmingly quickly. Ikkaku clung on tighter when the beating motion of Yumichika's wings and shoulderblades bumped against his arms.

He clenched his eyes shut and squeezed Yumichika's torso with his legs, not even daring to take a peek to see how high up they were. He didn't know how long they flew for, how long the wind rushed past his ears and over his face before they stilled, but it had been at least long enough for the gentle rocking motion to become relaxing, for his heart to slow, and for the fresh air to completely cool his tepid lungs. Yumichika seemed to have lit upon something, and when he opened an eye, he shouted in surprise and a bit of panic when he saw they were perched on a dead branch that had grown out of an outcrop of rock in the side of a sheer cliff-face.

When the immediate adrenaline died and he reassured himself that Yumichika had him quite securely and could even catch him if he somehow fell, Ikkaku took in the vista. It stretched for miles, miles of green forest that looked like little more than fuzzy moss from this height, miles of hills of crops and grasslands, all plunged in purple darkness and lit silver from the moon.

"Got tired, huh?" he laughed breathlessly, rubbing his face against Yumichika's neck, clenching his eyes back shut as the natural human reaction of being afraid to be up so high began to get to him again.

' _No,'_ Yumichika answered after a moment, expression serene and peaceful, hair being blown gently on the wind as he squatted on the branch and looked out over the world as though he belonged up here, overseeing everything.

Yumichika reached an arm out over his shoulder to bring Ikkaku's face towards his. He didn't usually move to kiss him back when their mouths touched, but he often guided Ikkaku's lips onto his for seemingly no reason, which led Ikkaku to suspect that he enjoyed it even if he probably didn't understand the significance of it as a human did.

He cracked his eyes open just enough to be able to see Yumichika's face and not the ten thousand foot drop to his death, letting his nose brush against Yumichika's and then their lips seal together.

Yumichika seized him and yanked him around and for a second Ikkaku had the gut-wrenching sensation that he was falling, and in his panic, he grabbed onto Yumichika hard, latching on in a desperate attempt to save his own life, but Yumichika already had him, holding him to his front, wings wrapping around him and arms locking him against his chest. Through Ikkaku's mind-blanking panic and surprise, he registered that Yumichika was tilting his head and responding to his kiss, even deepening it by opening his mouth wider.

' _No, you aren't heavy at all.'_

Ikkaku sighed, eyes slipping closed, holding on helplessly as Yumichika sucked on his tongue, sharp teeth scraping against it but never pricking or drawing blood. He was hanging over the very precipice of his own doom, his back to the edge, only held there by Yumichika's arms and his own trust in their strength. He could let go if he wanted, and he wouldn't budge an inch in this embrace.

' _You're as light as a feather.'_


End file.
